Gulf Air is a proud new owner of four shiny 787s that it uses for its longest flights. Its twice-daily London service is now operated by the 787's exclusively. Here's my trip review for a business class mistake fare originally found on Mighty Travels Premium.
Upon arrival at Bahrain airport, I had made my way to the Falcon Flyer lounge. The lounge was filled to capacity at 8 AM with many regional flights just about to leave. There was a decent breakfast spread - I was happy with the Arabian breakfast items. There were many different coffee makers but none produced any really good caffeine fixes.
There was a short delay of around 15 minutes, but I made my way towards the end of the terminal for the boarding anyway. There was another passport and security check before we entered the boarding area. This seemed to be a very full flight; there were not enough seats (or even standing room) for everyone.
Nevertheless, we were soon on our way to the aircraft and boarding.
Upon boarding the aircraft, both business and economy were indeed full almost to the last seat. Gulf Air uses the APEX Suites which you may be familiar with from Japan Airlines and Oman Air.
While it can be challenging to get into your mini-suite, they is a generous amount of space and privacy for travelers. The same can't be said about storage space (there's not alot).
There is a huge LCD screen - since the suite is so big it is hard to reach and it comes with an interactive remote. However the remote is fiendishly hard to use. I failed to make the flight map work for me at most times. It was just too hard to figure out.
Pre-take-off drinks were served and, while we were waiting at the gate, Peter the 'chef on board' introduced himself and took lunch orders. Austrian Airlines also have a chef traveling with them, and the result is a better quality of food and presentation. As such, I was very much looking forward to this meal.
Take off was slow and steady over the beautiful waters just offshore Bahrain airport (Things To do Bahrain) and we made our way towards Iraq, Syria, and Turkey.
The seat was just fantastic. It was the perfect balance of firm support and comfort.
The lunch service took a long time. In fact, it was almost two hours before we were fed. I was served a glass of delicious champagne but that, and a hot towel, was the only interaction to be had with the flight attendants.
The menu was a mix of Arabic and Western dishes. I went with the Arabic Mezze to start, which I found to be overly salty and not as good as expected.
The same can be said about the main course, the Salmon Chermoula, which looked great but just did not provide the same taste quality.
The supplied noise-canceling headphones made movie watching a pleasure. The combination of the huge display, the good headphones and a responsive user interface were quite a delight.
After lunch service, I reclined my seat to a flat-bed and found I had plenty of space. Given the warm blanket and slight turbulence, I slept like a baby for the rest of the flight.
In fact, I slept so well I missed breakfast! With just 20 minutes to go before landing at London, I requested to have some fruit from the service I had missed. Peter - the very friendly chef on board was happy to serve me but was stopped after a few feet by the stern purser about such late service.
Nevermind that the actual landing was more like 45 minutes away - oh well.
In summary - Gulf Air has a winner on its hands. The business class hardware is as good as it gets, with a huge amount of space and a fantastic bed. The cabin staff seemed mostly absent - I only interacted with Peter the chef on board. Other flight attendants seemed a little on the bossy side. The catering looked fantastic but lacked in taste, to my surprise. However, I'm not complaining, this is a modern Business Class product that will come into its own given time.
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